A new building for Hobart's working waterfront.
Sullivan's Cove is one of Hobart's most valued public spaces - a working port, a tourism gateway and a gathering place for locals and visitors alike. When remediation works to the Franklin Wharf required the demolition of the existing Dock Head Building, we were asked to develop a concept for its replacement.
Our design sits within the urban design framework established for the cove, and responds to the complex layering of uses that define the precinct - port operations, tourism, hospitality and public life. A three-storey building accommodates commercial tenancies, shared ticketing facilities for ferry and tourism operators, and a ground-level home for Pennicott Wilderness Journeys. The form is transparent at ground level, with glass and steel treatments that reference the existing shed buildings on the cove floor.
A lantern on the cove.
Surrounded by open space and seen in the round, the building is designed to be internally lit at night - reading as a lantern on the waterfront. The material palette is deliberately restrained, complementing its neighbours rather than competing with them, while the active ground-level interfaces support the quality of public space around the building. In a location as significant as Sullivan's Cove, the architecture needs to serve the city as much as the tenants within it.
